If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Erika Reinsel This Friday sees the release of the much anticipated new album from Priests, and we have a final single/video before the album. "Jesus' Son" (the title taken from a Lou Reed line which also inspired the title of a Denis Johnson book which was made into a movie starring Billy Crudup) is a groovy dance/rock song. It might be the most straightforward song in Priests's career, almost completely dropping the noise rock sound for pop, but still rock enough to keep me into it. Plus, I don't think Priests will ever drop their guitar sound that, even while sounding mainstream, is still pretty off. You can watch the video for "Jesus' Son" below. The video is a pretty obvious homage to Nine Inch Nails's "March of the Pigs." The Seduction of Kansas , the new album from Priests, will be out April 5 on Sister Polygon, and can be pre-ordered here . For more on Priests, check out their website . Current tour dates are below...

The last time we heard from Washington D.C.'s Priests, they had released "The Seduction of Kansas," which was almost pure pop. Their latest, "Good Time Charlie," continues their foray into pop, but not quite as far. The bad has this to say about the song:  “ I like to think of this song a little bit like the Gilligan’s Island Theme song, but for a Hollywood tale of Charlie Wilson. It’s also a little bit about 9/11 but much like Otessa Moshfegh’s My Year Of Rest And Relaxation, the character sketch is more drawn out in its absence rather than presence. I saw a documentary about the history of the United States’ relationship with the Middle East, and there was clip of an 80s lady who looked a little like Vanna White (who turned out to be Joanne Herring) saying how she wanted to get the Mujahadeen guns to fight the communists because she believed they worshipped the same god as her. So I got curious about how this story unfolded, but even more so, how the tale ...

Photo by Drew Hagelin Fans of Priests's debut artsy noise rock album  Nothing Feels Natural  might be shocked by the first single off their new upcoming album, "The Seduction of Kansas," is pure shimmering pop, but with an insanely dark side, and it's just off enough to suck in those of us that hate pop music. It's 100% a song you can dance to (and you should), but it also has a disturbing edge. Plus, the song gets far more highbrow than pop music gets. From the press release for the song: " As journalist Thomas Frank explored in 2004’s  What’s the Matter With Kansas? , the ideological sway of Kansas has often predicted the direction in which the U.S. will move—whether leaning socialist in the 1800s or going staunchly conservative in the 1980s." Yeah, this isn't mindless Swedish produced pop music. This is pop music for the art rock crowd, and we should all be thankful for it. You can watch the video for "The Seduction of Kansas" belo...

Snail Mail, aka Lindsey Jordan of Baltimore, MA, does 90s throwback indie rock perfectly, especially considering she wasn't even alive in the 90s. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, Snail Mail is 17. (When I stop to think of the kind of music that I would have been doing when I was 17, and that was in the 90s...) Snail Mail's EP, Habit , was released back digitally in 2016 and somehow evaded our attention. Luckily, it's about to be released on vinyl so it has popped up on our radar. Habit  is going to be perfect for anyone that is loving the current 90s indie sound being brought back to the forefront by Courtney Barnett and Palehound. Her voice is a mixture of Juliana Hatfield and Liz Phair, with just the slightest bit of Kim Gordon thrown in. Musically, it's also pretty similar to those three artists. It has a much more melancholy aspect to it, and could almost fall into the singer/songwriter category if the guitars weren't so perfectly jangly. You can l...

Photo by Michael Andrade The latest single from Washington DC's Flasher seems pretty straightforward, but the song has a few odd elements all mixed together. It includes the band's old school DC emo sound like they had back on "Destroy."  "Winnie" pulls in this new funkiness, in an almost glammed out T-Rex style groove. And then the song pulls out this great almost Mascis-esque guitar solo to close. And then there are the lyrics. Sung in a melodic, post punk meets Malkmus fashion, the lyrics are taken mostly from pundits on CNN or pharmaceutical commercials. The chorus of "These feet want to keep the beat moving" is straight out of a diabetes commercial. You can listen to "Winnie" below. It will be released on Sister Polygon on May 5. You can pre-order your copy of the single here . For more on Flasher, check out their Bandcamp . Current tour dates are below the song. Wed. Mar. 22 - Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn  Fri. Mar. 24 - ...

Washington D.C. is kind of the birthplace of emo, if you define emo as "emotional hardcore" and not "whiny pop punk bands singing about their diaries." Flasher are a throwback to old school emo. A chorus that includes "I just want to be your boy" definitely lands in the realm of emo, but musically "Destroy" lands much closer to the old school definition of emo. That's not to say it's hardcore by a long shot. But it's quirky and noisy, with just enough aggression to make the song interesting. It perfectly captures both the sadness and anger of being alone when you don't want to be. Plus, it has a killer false ending. Check out the video for "Destroy below. Flasher originally released their self-titled EP on cassette back in April, but are reissuing it on vinyl on November 18 on Sister Polygon. You can get your copy via their Bandcamp .